Grains of Sand

Pixabay No one can accuse David of being politically correct. He was often surrounded by enemies and didn't hesitate to call down God's judgment on them for their unjust actions. Psalm 109 is one testimony to that. Bottom line: may what they curse David with be brought back upon their own heads. But at the end of the psalm David turns his focus back to God—a good move. It's never a wise thing to focus on the problem and relegate the problem-solver to second place. " But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me " (109:21). God is sovereign—even over those who seek to do David harm. God's reputation is of highest importance—and that influences how He acts on David's behalf. God is good and loving—even when things seem to be going badly. So David runs to the Lord: " Help me, O Lord my God; save me in accordance with your love " (109:26). The photo says it a...

Pixabay, Public Domain In 1921, the Women’s Missionary Society of his church presented my father with a devotional book. In his later years he read from it every day. The reading for September 26, the day in 1991 when my dad died, the Scripture verse on which the devotional was based was Psalm 23:4: “ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me .” My father was alone in a hospital bed when he died—at least that was the regret I felt when I first learned the details of his passing. But later, after being divinely directed to check the devotional book dad always read, I was reminded again that, though no human being might have been with him, the Great Shepherd had been there to personally escort him through the valley. It was a huge comfort to me to remember that Truth. Whether the valleys of our lives be those of hardship, sorrow, illness, danger, or even death itself, what a wonderful blessing it is to know that our Shepher...